The San Francisco call. [volume], February 02, 1896, Page 25, Image 25

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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Novelties IN THE Realms OF SCIENCE LITERATURE ANS ART
p=^Tp^HE majority of persona do not
I know that the sky is blue on
II account of the thousands and
j XL thousands of millions of atoms of
dust floating in the atmosphere.
"Were it not for dust we would lack light
on Mother Earth and the heavens •would
be an inky black.
Suppose a room absolutely dark, save a
hole through one of the shutters. A ray
of light will dart through the small open
ing and one can observe tiny particles of
dust dancing in that bright sunbeam of
light. As a matter of fact it is not "the
light" we see, tut simply a reflection,
caused by these motes of dust. "
As it is with the shaft of light in the
darkened room, so it is on a large scale
throughout the air. The many millions
of particles of dust catch the light, reflect
ing it back and forth from one to another,
bo making the atmphere luminous.
It is for this reason that, were it not for
the dust, the sky would appear black, as it
does at night when there. is no moon.
The sun would appear as an immense
glowing ball. The moon and stars would
be visible throughout the day. Everything
would appear different. Where the light
touched the eves would be dazzled by the
brilliancy. The mellow softness of the
shadows would become an intense black
and the outline of object!, harsh and
angular.
The sunlight, which has been analyzed i
by means of the spectroscope, consists of
all the colors of the rainbow, their total
forming the white light. This white lieht
going through a crystal prism is broken
up into its seven component, the so-called
fundamental, colors. These seven distinct
colors of light are the result of the differ
ent lengths of ether waves, blue heading
the list as one of the shortest, yellow being
on* of the longest waves. Thus the
finest dust molecules being up high
est in the atmosphere reflect only
the blue light, imparting that tint
to the heavens • above. In mining dis
tricts and those where factory engines
abound, where the air is full of large par
ticles of coal and other dust, even on an
otherwise clear day the sun will have a
reddish tint. The cause of it is that the
particles of dnst are too large and too low
in the atmosphere to reflect the blue light,
only the red being reflected. For this rea
son the sky in the country will be blue
while above a large city on the same day
the heavens may present a grayish or
whitish color, on account of the dust
atoms being rather large, and, therefore,
not reflecting the blue light. ■ . ;• '
The reason that in southern parts of the
globe and near the equator the sky is very
blue lies in the fact that the sky is much
drier and the dust molecules, not being en
larged by moisture, are thus enabled to re
flect the blue color of the sunbeams. — New
York Herald.
Novelties In Cycles.
. . In their presence at the National cycle
show In vast numbers the people of New
York v»ry practically put the stamp of i
, approval on the exhibition during its prog
ress. There were nil kinds of bicycles
and bicycle appliances. The catalogue
showed nearly 400 exhibits of various
kinds, and all the available floor space of
Tandem Bike for Army Use.
the great Madison-square Garden was cov
ered. Among the exhibits which attracted
most attention were the bicycles equinped
for army use. The new army tandem,
mounted with a 40- pound automatic rapid
firing machine gun, was on exhibition for
the hrst time. These machines have been
equipped in the most thoroughly com
plete and convenient manner, and yet
without carrying an extra ounce or inter
fering in any possible with the rider or
v riders.
The tandem is finished in the regulation
manner, with enameled frame, nickel-
Tilated handle bars, hubs and sprockets,
althongh it presents quite a different and
perhaps even more attractive appearance,
on account of the acconterments of war
which are attached to it, and stem to add
a more stanch and perfect appearance to
the machine. On either side of the steer
ing head, and clamped or attached with
perfect security, are steel enameled gun
rests, which are lined with leather and
made exactly to fit the barrel of the guns,
and attached to the main upri-ht in the
same way are rests of the same kind, with
the exception of being made a trifle larger,
in order to hold the gnn grip. Fitting
most securely in these rests, and yet in
such a manner that they may be easily
and quickly detached at a moment's
notice, are two 12-shot repeating magazine
carbines.
Strapped on the right Bide of the ma
NURSE AND THE BABIES.
chine, and to the front and rear seat post,
are two regulation six-shooters, encased
in holsters. Also on the right side, ex
tending almost the whole length of the
machine, attached in front to the steering
head and in the rear to the lower center
tube, is a jointed flagstaff in a tight-fitting
neat-lcxoking canvas case, and in no way
hindering the action of the machine or
riders. On the front handle-bar and
strapped in a peculiar manner, so that
there is no possibility of their coming
loose or causing any annoyance, are two
tightly rohed blue "regulation army over
coats. On the rear bars, strapped in the
same fashion, are a double pair of gray
army blankets. The guns, revolvers and
all are so ingeniously attached that uoth
ing can interfere in the slightest degree
with the riders, and the additional weight
of the various accouterments, which take
in everything essential for a march in
times of war and peace, is hardly percep
tible.
One exhibition suggested the downfall
of the baby carriage. It may not be an
out of the way park scene of the near fu
; ture to see a nurse in bloomers wheeling
I her charges over the drives. The vehicle
j has been designed, and was on exhibition.
THE IiOCOMOTIVK WHISTLE.
How It Developed I'roin a Little Tin
Horn.
When locomotives were first built and
: began to trundle their small loads up and
down the newly and rudely constructed
railways of England, the public roads
! were for the greatest part crossed at grade,
and the engine driver had no way of giv
ing warning of iiis. approach except by
blowing a tin horn. But this, as may be
imagined, says a writer in Cassier's Maga
zine, was far from being a sufficient warn
ing. One day, in the year 1533, so runs a
story of the origin of the locomotive
whistle, a farmer of Thornton was cross
ing tho railway track on one of the
country roads with a great load of eggs
and butter. Just as he came out upon
the track a train approached. The engine
man blew his tin horn lustily, but the i
farmer did not hear it. Eighty dozen
of eggs and fifty rounds of butter were
smashed into an indistinguishable, un
pleasant mass, and mingled with the i
kindling wood to which the wagon was
reduced. The railway company had to
pay the farmer the value of his fifty
pounds of butter, his 960 eggs, his horse
and his wagon. It was regarded as a very
serious matter, and straightway a direc
tor of the company went to Alton Grange,
where George Steplienson lived, to see if
he could not invent something that would
give a warning more likely to be heard.
Stephenson went to work Hnd the next
day had a contrivance which, when at
tached to the engine boiler and the steam
turned on, gave out a shrill, discordant
sound. The railway directors, greatly de
lighted, ordered similar contrivances to be
attached to all the locomotives, and from
that day to this the voice of the locomo
tive whistle has never been silent.
VALUABLE FIDDLES.
raganini'i Instruments la the City of
Genoa.
The beauty and sweetness of Sarasate's
tone are often commented on by people
who never think of the tone being in any
way due to the fineness of his instrument.
As a matter of fact. Sarasate ha 3 two
Strads. One is the renowned "Boissier"
Strad., which he managed to secure in
Paris for £1000 an hour or two before Hill
of London sent an offer for it; the other is
one that has been used by Paganini, which
came to him through his son Achille. Of
course ttfe latter instrument has an addi
tional value from the circumstance of its
former ownership. Paganini had several
valuable violins, "and the instrument which
he used in his later years— a Guarnerius.
dated 1743 — would prooably command
something like £5000 if it could be put in
the market just now; indeed, the sum of
£2400 has already been offered for it and
refused, and a report was lately circulated
that £10.000 had been tried. But the in
strument cannot be sold. Paganini him
self bequeathed it to the city of Genoa,
and the municipal authorities there are
keenly alive to the value of the treasure.
They have it bestowed inagiasscase in
the recess of a wall, which is again incased
in heavy French plate glass, the whole
being closed by a massive door. Every
two months the seals are broken and the
violin played upon for ahout half an hour
in the presence of city officials, and then
it is replaced and put under municipal
seal. This, of course, is done to keep the
instrument in good condition.
Paganini came by the viohn in a curious
way. A French merchant lent him the
instrument to play upon at a concert at
Leghorn. After the concert t'aganiui
brought it back to its owner, when the
latter exclaimed, to the delighted astonish
ment of the player: "Never more will I
profane the strings which your fingers
have touched; that instrument is yours."
The Genoa people have been in luck in the
matter of violins. Sivori, who died last
year, was a pupil of Paganini, and Paga
nini presented him when a youth with a
very fine Guarnerius instrument. It was
therefore but natural that Sivorl should
wish his violin to rest beside Paganinis,
j and so to-day for a small fee you can see
both instruments in the municipal niche
at Genoa.— Comhill Magazine.
A Shfp's Kate.
A ship's rate is found by a line about 900
feet long, on a reel, having one end fast
ened to a thin, sector-shaped piece ol
wood, called a log." The arc of the log is
loaded to make it stay vertical when
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1896.
tossed into the sea; it then remains in the f
same place (is supposed to), in the water
while the line is unwinding from the reel. |
The line is divided into equal parts of fifty I
feet each, called kuot3 of 1-120 of a nauti- I
cal mile. Since a half minute has the !
same ratio to an hour that a knot has to a j
nautical mile, the ship runs at the rate of
as many nautical miles an hour as it runs
knots in half a minute. If say nineteen
knots pass in half a minute the vessel is
then running at the rate of nineteen miles
an hour.— James Usher.
The Horseless Carriage.
It is not outside the realm of possibility
that in the century soon to dawn the
horseless carriage may be as familiar on
the public highway as the bicycle is to
day; as familiar, in fact, as the family con
veyance of the period. Of course' good
roads are a prime requisite for the success
of the motocycle, but good roads are
bound to come, and it is to be hoped that
the agitation for them that has been set
on foot all over this country will not be
void of desirable, results even before tha
MUELLER MOTOCYCLE.
[Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan.]
clnse of the present century. Good !
. smoothly paved roads being a ccrtninty of '
| realization at no very remote date, "the j
i prospects of the horseless carriage seem to
j be quite flattering, if the judgment of the
■ fiiendsof the new invention" can bo relied!
! upon. They contend that the horse may j
• bo dispensed with and the highest measure
|of speed and comfort attained over j
smoothy paved boulevards in a vehicle pro
pelled by mechanical power. It is worth i
\ while to take a look at some of these up
| to-date vehicles.
The "PJlectrqbat 1 ' is the original name |
; given by Morris &. Salom of Philadelphia j
to the first electric wagon constructed in i
'; that city. It was ihe joint work of a me- |
| chanical engineer and an electrician. The !
i wagon was run hundreds of miles over !
the streets of Philadelphia without seri- j
i ous mishap. Its tot.il weight, including \
I the battery, is 4250 pounds, and the max;- j
mum mileage on one charge of electricity
la from h'fty to one hundred, according to j
speed and grades, the maximum speed at- j
, tamable being- fifteen miles an hour.
Charles A. Duryea of Peoria, 111., ha 3 |
successfully applied the gasoline motor to \
horselessvehici.es. The Duryea motor re
sembles an ordinary, heavily buih buggy,
weighs 700 pounds,* and has ball-bearings
An Electrobat.
[Reproduced from the Cosmopolitan.]
and rubber-tired wheels. It has an inge
nious mechanism for steering and changing
the speed without a moment's loss at time.
The cost of running this carriage is one
fourth of- a cent a mile, and a supply of
gasoline can be carried sufficient to nm
the machine 150 miles. Upon goo* roads
a SDeed of twenty miles is claimed.
There are numerous rivals for popularity
in the motocycle world. The Mueller
patent, for instance, recently won a prize
in a contest for economy of operation,
coming in a close seconci'to the Dnryea
machine. In order to stimulate invention
and do what they can to hasten the com
ing of the age of the marvelous carriage
the publishers of the Cosmopolitan, from
which publication the illustrations of
motocycles on this page are taken, offer
premiums amounting to $3000. These
premiums are to be awarded to motor
carriages presenting the greatest number
of points of excellence as exhibited in a
trial trip to be made from the New York
office of the Cosmopolitan on the 30th of
May to the Cosmopolitan building at
Irvington, and thence back to tbe starting
point.
Poison for Arrows.
The following account Of the method
used by Bushmen of Namaqualand to
poison their arrows is given in the Scien
tific African: "Some resin, either from
the gift-bol or from one of the members
of the Euphorbia group of cactus-like
plants, is first obtained, and the sticky
substance is placed on a stone. The Bush
man then poes with a forked stick to look
for ring-halse or black night artder, not
the puff-adder which is called ring-halse.
Having found the snake, by a dextrous
thrust of the stick the animal is imprisoned
just behind the head by the two prongs of
the stick. The prepared stono is then
placed in the mouth, and the upper jaw
forced rieht back. By this somevrhat
rough treatment the poison glands become
compressed, and two drops of poison are
forced out on the fan^s and caught on the
stone. The poison is theri well mixed
with resinous matter, and is ready for use.
In the earlier days a more complicated
preceiure was adopted, through the
medium of a witch doctor. The whole
head of the puff-adder was obtained and
put in a pot along with the resin, and
beetles and noxious herbs added to the
incantation of the witch doctor. The
whole was stewed up amid great excite
ment. When the contents of the vessel
were properly mixed, the sticky compound
was collected by stirring it with a stick, to
which the matter adhered, and, on becom
ing cold, remained on the stick as a black
knob, and formed then aa article of
barter."
A Fine Cruiser.
The Argentine warship Buenos Aires,
the fastest ocean-going vessel in the world,
as demonstrated by her recent trial trip,
is also said to be one of the best armed
cruisers afloat. Her principal armament
consists of two 8-inch quick-firing guns,
four 6-inch quick-firing guns and six 4.7
--inch quick-tiring guns. There are also
ten 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and six
1-pounder Mnxim-Nordenfeldt automatic
guns. All the large guns are 47 calibers
in length. Cordite was used throughout
during the gunnery trials, which were
considered remarkably snecessful by ex
perts.
FIRST DAYS OF THE WORLD.
The Time When Moll ask I^fe Reigned
Supremo.
When geology took up the world's his
tory, in early Archaian days, 300,000,000
of years had already passed since the
molten rocks of the sun-like earth had
formed from the condensing nebulae.
The cooling of the exterior nad gone for
ward with remarkable slowness, but at
last it was hard, solid rock; the thick,
j heavy vapors had begun to condense and
| waters, hot and acid, covered the world, or
| at least its greater part.
' Over the continental region the sea was
more or less shallow and the breaking and
grind ing of the ocean's bed laid the nucleus
for. future land. .
A triangular island slowly appeared
above the waste of waters in what is now
the Hudson Bay region; there appeared,
too, a narrow strip, which, in centuries to
come, was to 'be the Highlands: of the j
Hudson; there was also a coast line in the
broad area covering the Rockies; small-isl
i ands dottci the great northern seas where
Noway and Sweden now stand. '■ ..
As time passed the waters slowly be
came cooler and at last life, lowly life. ap
peared in some structureless pfants and
animals. ■ . ' ■ '- ".'■
: A warm and equable climate covered this
land, and a clouded sky tempered the rays
of the sun; but t ha rocks were yet bare,
and no sounds filled the air save tho e of a
lifeless and voiceless nature— surging
qi the waters and the raging of the ter
n■ pest:..: But ii gnu'ual change was* taking
place; the seas adjoining these primordial
islands became shallower; corals and sea
lilies filled the bays; I nioll'iisks and crusta
ceans had begun, and forages mollusk life
rei-ned supreme in this embryo world.—
Harvey. B. ■ Bashore, in February Lip
pincott's.. v . .
The Cry of the * Dreamer."
I am tired of planning arid toiling
In the crowded hives of men, '. ■ -■-.
Hear weary of building and spoiling,
An! spoiling and buildin? asoin;
Ant! I long for the dear old river
Where I dreamed my youth away,
For a dreamer lives forevor, ■.
And a toiler dies in a day.
I am sick of the showy seeming
Of a life that Is half a lie— t ' -
Of the faces lined with scheming
In the throne; that hurries by. . ■
From the sleepless thought's endeavor
. ' 1 would c<> where the children play—
For a dreamer lives forever,
And a thinker dies in a day. • t
I can feel.no pride, but pity .
For the burdens the rich endure;
There is nothing sweet in 1 iie cil v .
But the patient hvffl of the poor.
Oh, th* little hands too skillful
And the child mind cl'OKcd with weeds;
The daiufhier's bean grown willful
■ And the father's heart thut bleeds.
No, no. from th? street's rude bustle,
- Kroiri the trophies of mar; and 31 age, /
I won .1 fly to tbe wools' low rustle
And the meadows' kindly paire.
Lot me dream a% of o'd by the river
And be loved for the dream alway—
For a. dreamer lives forever, .
And a toller dies in a day. .
• John Boyle O'Reilly
A 'PHONE IN HIS HAT.
Constant.. Communication . Between the
.tinmen and the Dispatcher.-:
An electrical telephone system will soon
be introduced , oriV the ; ; Brooklyn bridge
which will, it- is said, : reduce to a mini-;
mum the danger of collisions of cable-cars
on the bridge. :It is probable that within la
short time telephone connections will be
made ; between ; all the 2 trains running on
the. bridge and the train dispatcher,' in
charge. This vrM give the dispatcher
almost instantaneous command over all
trains. : . ; ' ■
Assistant Engineer Kingsley L. Martin
.has conducted experiments which . have
shown that, the plan is feasible. The ex
periments heretofore have been with the
electric light j trolley wire strung over the
bridge, with a ground circuit in the truck
of the car. In the future this will be
abandoned, and a metallic circuit,. which
gives ; much more ; ; favorable ' results * than
the ground circuit, will be substituted.
• Under j the ; proposed J system the train
dispatcher will sit In his office and wear a
head telephone," and 5 ; will have a long-dis
tance . transmitter i and. signal bells before
him, as well as the apparatus he now uses.
At both ends of every train there, will be
a head telephone and a transmitter," so ar
ranged that the gripman may speak into
it . without r moving from his place at the
wheel or his gaze from tbe, tracks and sig
nals. He will ■be : ready to receive orders
and • execute them \ instantly .VTho',. train
men ! ordinarily will have their telephones
hung up, and will only adjust them when
a ; bell rings, when , all the trainmen will
put their receivers to their ears. ,In foggy
.■weather the men would probably wear the
head telephone constantly. > ■: - -•
I : During the experiments a car fitted with
an ordinary telephone was connected with
the terminal so well that a voice in the car
could be distinguished „ and f understooa
'during the 1 entire trip to the other end of
the bridge.— Philadelphia Record. ; ;
. Shoots 600 Times a Minute. v
The "Maxim" gun, which has \ figured
prominently in recent reports from Vene- i
zuela and the Transvaal, can shoot eleven
bullets a second or 666 a minute. ; ; It is ! a
light affair and ' looks like ' a { small, slim
barreled cannon mounted on a tripod.
The gunner sits upon a saddle behind the
gun, and can swing %itv to right or left or
elevate or depress the barrel as easily as
though it were a revolver. The gun loads
itself. The cartridges are strung on belts
which hold from £ 150 %to 400 1 rounds each,
and this belt is fed automatically to the
breech |of 3 the : gun. ; The " loading, firing
, and ejecting mechanisms are worked by
the recoil of the gun. The first cartridge
is fired by pressing a button, and after
that, G66 times a minute, every kick of the
gun throws out the exploded shell, inserts
a loaded one and explodes it. This is
kept up as long as the button is pressed or
until the belt of cartridges is exhausted.
The steel barrel is encased in a water
jacuet which keeps the gun cool.
Eyes of Animali.
The owl's eyes have no muscles hy
which they can' be moved. This deficiency
is atoned for by extraordinary flexibility
in the muscles of the neck, by which the
owl can move his head with incredible rap
idity in any direction.
A deer's eyes command a wide field of
vision, and the animal can see behind as
well as before, though not so distinctly,
for when alarmed by a noise from the rear
the deer will always turn, so as to gain a
clearer view of the object.
A mole's eyes are believed to give the
animal rlothing more than an impression
of light, which is probably painful or at
least annoying, the sensation prompting
the creature at once to burrow into the
earth and escape the annoyance.
The eye of the cat, like that of the horie,
is provided with a false eyelid, which may
be moved indepenaently of the outer or
true lid. It is often employed by a cat
when obliged to face a very bright light,
and is believed to act as a shade.
Oysters are provided with eyes, but the
oyster's eye is not located where public
opinion places it. What is called the eye
of the oyster is the great muscle which
holds the shells together, and which is
separated by the knive of the opener.
When the snake sheds his skin the Bkin
of the eye comes off with the rest. Trans
lucent in most parts, the s»kin O7er the
snake's eye is perfectly transparent.
Blue-eyed cats are always deaf. The
physiologists have in vain attempted to
explain this curious circumstance.
The ostrich is believed to see objects
behind him as well as those in front. Per
sons standing directly behind an ostrich
can see the pupils of his eyes, and, of
course, are tbns easily seen by the animal.
The common house fly is said to be pro
vided with 10,000 eyes; that is to say, his
two compound eyes have each 8000 facets.
By this singular arrangement he is enabled
to see in every direction a«d to elude with
great skill and success the many dangers
that threaten his daily existence. — St.
Louis Globe-Democrat.
Washington's Dignity.
Great as he was in every other direction
profoundly as he appreciated and much as
he enjoyed the dinner, General Washing
ton by his presence generally spoiled the
pleasures of the feast, said Chauncey De
pew In a recent speech. The severity of
his manner, his reticence % and the distant
majesty which enshrined him destroyed
the freedom which is necessary to the full
appreciation and enjoyment of. the occa
sion. The grandfather of General Coch
ran was surgeon-genera! of the staff, and
be used to tell the story cf the effort made
by tiie younger members to break through
this reserve and brinjr the commandor-in
chief into conn-ection and sympathy with
both the serious artri the hilarious inci
dents which happended after he retired.
The novel method of producing this result
was that the Lest raconteur should tell the
story which had proved the greatest suc
cess, and then that Governor Morris, the
most brilliant, audacious and b(;st loved of
the officers, should slap the general on the
back ar.d say: "Old gentleman, how do
you like that?" Washington was first as
tonished, and then a grieved expression
came over his face; then lie slowly rose
and with great dignity retired from the
room. This was the first and last ex
periment they made upon General Wash
ington.
NOVELTIES FOE THK SICKROOM.
A medicine bottle with a spoon attach
ment for administering the contents is a J
Spoon Attachment for Medicine.
very unique sickroom novelty. The spoon
is of porcelain, which Is the best material
for the purpose, and is fixed on a hinge to
the neck of the bottle. When not in use
it folds over the cork and can be readily
bent over to an angle so that the medicine
To Keep Tab on the Doses.
may be poured into it. When filled it is
fixfd at right ancles with the boitie and
then is in a convergent position to dash off
the contents.
Another odd nnd extremely useful con-
ceit for the sickroom
is a cover for the medi
cine glass. It is in
the shape of the face
of a clock, with marble
hand?. These serve as
a reminder of the hour
at which the next dose
of medicine i 3 to be
taken. There is a
place for writing tho
directions, as far as
the intervals between
doses is concerned,
and when one dose is
administered the
hands are moved
around to the hour of the next one.
Some Royal Crowns. .
The crowns of Spain, Portugal and
Poland are all three of the same form and
are described by Colonel Parsons in his
"Genealogical Tables of Europe" as "ducal
coronets heightened up with eight arched
diadems supporting a mound, ensigned
with a plain gold croEs."
The crowns of Denmark and Sweden are
of almost similar shape, consisting of the
eight arched diamondn arising from a
rcarquis' coronet (a circle of gold bordered
with ermine, set around with four straw
berry leaves and four pearls on pyramidi
cal points of equal height, alternate),
which conjoin at the top under a mound
ensigned with a cross bottone.
The Kings of most other Continental
countries are crowned with circlets of gold,
adorned with precious stones and height
ened up with trefoils and closed by four,
six or eight diamonds supporting a mound
surmounted by a cross. The trefoil upon
the crown is thought to be of Gothic
introduction.
We find it upon the coins of Clovis and
his sons, which has induced antiquarians
to call it the fleur de lis— the lily of France
— represented in gold on a blue ground,
but the fact is these trefoils were used on
Constantinopolitan crowns before the time
of the FranKs and afterward on those of
German princes in no way allied to Char
lemagne, Aubrey, a celebrated authority
upon heraldry, was of opinion that the
fleur de lis is really nothing more than a
spear head adorned, no flower of the lily
kind having the middle part solid.
The Sultan of Turkey wears over his
arms a tuiban, enriched with pearls and
diamond?, under tsvo coronets, the iirat of
which is ? made of pyramidical ,; points,
heightened up with large *; pearls, and the
uppermost is .- surmounted with crescents.
; SURVEYING A FARAIXEI-.
The Longest Line Ever 'Surveyed la the
' > » World.
No exaggeration can be attributed to the
scientific press in declaring the survey of
the thirty-ninth parallel of north latitude,
just completed, to be ? the greatest contri
bution to science ever given '■' by a Govern
ment. : The prime I object was accurately
and 'j precisely to determine the figure of
the earth, for, though . north ' and south
lines had largely contributed to this final
result, yet for absolute exactness in astro
nomical calculations an east and west line
of the furthest possible extent had to be
run. The -; thirty - ninth parallel from
Point Arenas ;' to Cape May; ;N. J.i
was chosen kas « the * stretch :of ■ ter
ritory best adapted for the work, and the
United States is now credited with : having
finished the, longest line ever surveyed in
this world. . Uncompahgre, where this
thirty-ninth parallel of latitude crosses the
continent, is a noted mountain among
the National surveys and Government
expeditions, has ; repeatedly been the
station for those intrusted with exploring
and geological pursuits. Haydeji's party,
who occupied it during the field of investi
gation from ; 1873 'to ■ 1876, placed its ; alti
tude at 14,235,' while other estimates put it
some 300, feet in excess of that. Uncom
pahgre is in high favor with the geode
sians \ because of its easy access " and the
roomy summit, the latter being nearly
five acres in extent, with a gentle incline.—
New York Sun.
Whlttier's Repartee.
In the main Whittier's life was one of
earnest, serious thought, says the "Arena.''
He was always working for the : ameliora
tion and elevation :of • humanity, and yet
he was full of ; wit and humor. Not even
Sydney Smith, who was so famous for his
wit, or bur own Holmes, could, excel him
in repartee. '. ' . '
. A . young girl who was in the house with
Mr. Whittier and of whom ,he was very
fond went to him one day with tearful
eyes and rueful face and said: "Mv dear
little kitty Bathsheba is dead, and I want
you to write a poem to put on her grave
stone. I shall bury her under a rose bush."
Without a moment's hesitation the poet
said in solemn tones: •
£athaheba! to whom none ever said scat—
. ' Ts'o worthier cat
Ever sat on a mat
• Or caught a rat
Ilequlcscat! ■
The same little girl's pony broke his leg,
and again the poet was- called upon to
comfort the child with some poetic senti
ment. She said : ''1 have written ; some |
lines myself, but I can't think how to
finish the verse."
.'-•-'What did you wri^e?" asked Mr.
Whittier.., v . : - : -, ■: ■"- '■■ • ■ ■ • .
• My pony kicked to the right, he kicked to the left.
The stable post he struck ft, .
He broke his leg short off—
And then, added Mr. Whittier: ,
. And then he kicked the bucket.
. ..,■■'■. Curious Epitaphs.
Every man to r his hobby. " That of W. i
T. Vincent, the president of the Woolwich !
District Antiquarian Society, seems to be I
rambling in old graveyards* and gathering ■
| from the stones there whatever is quaint j
and curious, says the Westminster Gi- I
I zette. - That this is an interesting purs.;
is evident from the ■ attractive volume
which Mr. 'Vincent has compiled, and
which Messrs. Mitchell & Hughes of War
dour street have just issued as a result of i
his wanderings. Among queer epitaphs j
quoted is the following found on a grave- \
•stone at Crayford : - ,
The age of thl.? clerk was just threescore and ten, :
Nearly half of which time he hs>.d sun;? out A men! !
q in bis youth he was starrier) like other young men,
But his wife died one day and he chanted Amen !
A second ho took. is he departed. What then? -:..■■
lie married and hurled a third with Amen! j
'1 iius his joys and his sorrows were treble, but then i
His voice was deep baas r.s he rang out Amen!
On the horn he coird bio*.- as well as mos- men,
Ho his horn- was exalted la blowing Amen.
But hi* lost all Ms wind niter three scorf>and ten
And here » nb three wives ho waits HIT again
The trumpet shall rouse him to ting out Amen'!
. Another adorns* the stone raised above
the grave of a village blacksmith: .-.
. My sledge and hammer lie reclined;
My bellows, too. have lost their wind;
My fire extinct, my font 1 decay'd,
. • And in the dust my vise is laid. , ■
My coal Is spent, my iron's pone;
My nails are drove, my work is done.'
. A New llariae Paint. .
A Scotch inventor has recently brought
to notice a new and valuable marine paint,
the object of ; the article- being a capacity
of application in a cold, state to the sub
merged and I various other parts of ships
or other craft, the effect being that of a
quick-drying- anli-fouling:zinc and tallow
paint. For the accomplishment' of this
purpose .a. composition .has* been devised ;
consisting of 40 per cent* of oxide of < zinc,
12 percent* of linseed oil, 23 per cent of
tahow, and 20 per . cent of thinn ings— the
latter substances being composed of 60 per
cent of shale naphtha, benzoline, or other
similar spirits,' 30 per cent of gum dammar
and 10 per cent of resin; these proportions
are alterable to suit different waters and
conditions.
Yfiikrc I£ii|riiicß in Africa.
American manufacturers are furnishing
an immense lot of engines, rock drills,
stamps, air conipre^sorp, wrought iron and
steel tubes, particularly in large sizes, for
the cold boom in South Africa. American
engines command high figures. I was
told a few days auo, writes a Johannes
bur;; correspondent, that an engine 25 to
30 horse-power, with an "indicator" of 40
to 45 horse-power, brings the handsome
sum of £400 (?2000J.
l.i K ht-I>i;ut Steamboats.
The demand for light-draft steamboats
from British colonieß in various parts of
the world has caused their construction to
•become a specialty with a number of the
English shipyards. One firm advertises
vessels of this description built of iron,
steel or wood, with speed up to twenty-five
miles an hour, and draft of water as low
as six inches.
KEW TO-DAY.
ATRUESTORY.
THE MADDEST WOMM
. , You ever heard of was one who got i
".'/•hurt on'a railroad. She lived on
:■■•• . ;• Hyde street. ;•_-■:
There was a certainty for her of i
" i ";.'• pain, a good rest and '
BIG DAMAGES. ■ : !
A friend, gave har something tor
. it, which he assured her was good,- j
, i so she used it, and then commenced
*:-/■ ■'- "'. making a list of all the things she j
-..-■ :-. .••- would buy. with the damages. • That
:-, was some comfort..: •.■...-'. .; •
. .Next day railroad people called
, and found her so nearly • well ■ they
could not: give her a cent. 1 Scene
clo.sed with a profusion of •
Feminine Swear Words. !
>■ There's ft sharp point in these ' for
RAILROAD MANAGERS,
BICYCLERS and
EVERYBODY.
* Her level-headed friend had given
her a bottle of
Mitchell's Magic Lotion,
; Which is so harmless and pleasant'
V--\ > to use, and never fails to do good .
If You Ache or Get Hiut
• Sold by druggists at 23c, 50c and
$1.00.
NEW . TO-DAT.' .
The Truth From Honest
• People.
READ WHAT THEY SAY.
Rheumatism, ' Catarrh, Dyspepsia and
Other Ailments : Vanqaished by .
Many pn's Improved Hom-
eopathic Remedies.
A Separate Care for Each Disease. Ask
Tour Druggist for Munyun's Gnltlo
to Health mid Cure Yourself TVitli a
. 25-Ceut Munyon Kemeciy.
■■ ' "
■ Mr. Salmon Matbews, the proprietor On
the well-known Fair Furniture Co., 85.
Mission • street, San • Francisco, says
"While residing in Australia several year 9
ago I contracted muscular rheumatism in
its most painful form, and although I con-
sumed enougn medicine to have destroyed
the stomach of an ordinary mortal, I re-
ceived little or no relief until Tuesday last.
It was then that I decided to use the con -
tents of one of your sample bottles, which
my son had obtained at the "Chronicle"
office. lam free to admit that the result
astonished me. For several days prior to
this I had been unable to use my arras,
and the right one in particular; but in less
than forty-eight hours I experienced relief
to such an extent. that I actually made
myself useful around my place of business.
In addition to the disappearance of all pain
in my arms,' I found that the pellets had
acted beneficially on my kidneys, which
had been causing me considerable annoy-
ance."
' Munyon's Rheumatism Cure seldom fails
to relieve in from one to three hours, and
cures in a few days. Price 25c.
Munyon's Dyspepsia Cure positively
cures all forms or indigestion and stom-
ach trouble. Price 25c.
Munyon's Cold Cure prevents pneumo-
! nia . and breaks up a cold in a few hours.
Price 25c. .
' Munyon's Cough ' Cure stops coughs,'
night sweats, allays soreness and speedily
heals the lungs. Price 25c. <
Munyon's Kidney Cure speedily cures
I pains in the back, loins or groins and all
forms of kidney disease. * Price 25c.
Munyon's Nerve' Cure cures all the
symptoms of nervous exhaustion, such as
depressed spirits, failure of memory, rest-
less and sleepless 4 nights, pains in the
head and dizziness. It stimulates and
strengthens the nerves, and is a wonderful
tonic. Price 25c. . \
Munyon's Headache Cure stops headache
in three minutes. Price 25c.
Munyon's Pile .Ointment positively
j cures all forms of piles. Price 25c.
Munyon's Blood Cure eradicates all im-
i purities of the blood. Price 25c.
Munvon's Liver Cure corrects - head-
; ache, biliousness, : jaundice, constipation
i and all liver diseases. Price 25c.
Munyon's Female Remedies are a
boon to all .women.'
Munyon's Asthma Cure and Herbs are
i guaranteed to relieve asthma in three mm'-
' utes and cure in five days. Prica,soo each.
Munyon's Catarrh Remedies never fail.
I The Catarrh Cure (price 25c) eradicates the
! disease from the system, and the Catarrh
j Tablets (price 25c) cleanse and heal the
j parts.' •:■ •"
Munyon's Vitalizer imparts new life, re-
: stores lost powers to weak and debilitated
i men. Price $1.
! Munyon's Remedies at all druggists,
| mostly 25c a vial. . >.
Your druggist will present you free with
a copy of the "Guide to Health," a valu-
aOle little medical publication that should
be in every home.
Personal letters to Prof. Munyon, 1505
: Arch street, Philadelphia, Pa., t answered
with free medical advico for any disease.
FURNITURE
FOR '■
4 ROOMS
*T,Vn.?* B[ J -* t
\ Parlor— Silk BrocateUe, 5-Pelce • Bait, plush
. trimmed. ' • .
' Bedroom— 7-Peice Elegant: Suit, bed, bureau,
washstand, two chairs, rocker and 'table; pil-
lows, woven wire and top mattress.
IMninK-Room— 6-Foot Extension Table, four
Solid Oak Chairs.
Kitchen— Kango, ratent Kitchen Table and two
Chairs. • ■ . • •
EASY PAYMENTS.
Houses furnished complete, city or country, any-
where on the Coast. Open evenings.
M. FRIEDMAN & CO.,
224 to 230 and 306 Stockton
and 237 Post Street.
Ay Free pncklnji and 'delivery across the bay.'
DR. PIERCES *^p' BALVAMIC
„ CHAIN BELT
| Is the latest Patent; ■ contains . all ' improvements
; and .Is sold at one-half tb<? price asked for inferior,
i but much-advertised electric belts. ■-;.>•<.• :
j ■ The results accomplished by Dr. . Pieree's belts
! are simply wonderful, thousands of cures bavin?
| been mace wiitr.' physicians and- medicines bail
! Tailed to give relief. : •• ... ■- •
■ The strongest possible evidence will Ibe given to
! Inquirers as to the efficacy I and c superiority | of Dr.
! Pierces belts, and a : thorough - examination and
; 'coiuparlsoi. of these goods with : all others is re-
spectfully invited of all intending purchasers of an
! : Electric Belt. ta~ Call or write for free Fakfu-
: let .No. 2." Address ,• .
: DBS. PIERCE [& SON, ; ,
;>.-; 704 . Sitcramento Street,
; . 2d, 3rd and 4th floors. San Francisco, CaL
DR.WOMWOO ifex
- Chinese Drug* • • *^n^v%
! and Tea and Herb JBfr ■ •'^'jisak
*■>■"', Sanitarium. Bi? * *3
j 776 CLAY STiCKET, PL fl»
•Bet. Kearny and D.upont, j?2s sS & '"
Han Francisco. f*V *vS^ . '/^*
I, the undersign have ~m A » "M*
been cured from I _Mj»\ ■ 'J' ■-,
; trouble, .from: which Ifr Ssmiv \ ■ 1"^ 1
I suffered for over 10 years, F Vgg^rV 7 _J •
:i by Dr. Wong Woo. • - &kQk* ~Jt(\ -eej
Office 'JO, 1895 allC3l to II^KMBB&JjSBMk
Office hoors:- 9:30 to 11 jKwJsMct'wJl
a. m. ; i to 3, 7 to 9 p. mmißtixEe£#ZaXmar&z
,■ ; s^vrejj These tiny Capsules are superior
: |\^l Balsam of , Copaiba, vfTN
i I \ 1 Cubebs and '. Injections. (/RJj)| j ';■
; SLI I They cure in<da hoars the v»^/
: j • same diseases -without anyinoon-
l SOLD BY ALt : DRUGGISTS
25